Things are different today. There was a huge crowd around the lab premises.

“Is there a new guy coming in today?” asked Staphy.

“A new guy? Probably,” replied Colo. “even if he is a new guy, what could be so special about him? He could be just like us !”

“Well, he could be a resistant variety,” retorted Staphy. Staphy and Colo were originally from different places, but soon became friends.

“How do we get to know? We need updates about this guy!” Staphy exclaimed.

“Oh! how about we ask Anto, the informer?” Staphy suggested.

“Anto?” Colo asked cluelessly.

“You don’t know Anto? Have you been living under a rock? Well, he is an ant and a spy that goes around the lab and keeps up with the daily activities in and around the lab. The microbes always get their gossip from Anto with them being contained in isolated units,” explained Staphy.

“Really? He sounds so cool! We should definitely ask him!” exclaimed Colo.

Just then they saw Anto coming out of the storage unit carrying the food that he had collected for the day.

“Hey, Anto! How you’ve been man?” inquired Staphy, “Oh this is Colo by the way.”

“Hey, Staph! I’ve been great, dude. It’s been so long! Nice to meet you Colo!” replied Anto.

“It sure has been a long time” Staphy exclaimed. “And what about this new guy I’m hearing about? You know anything about him?” he inquired.

“Oh! You’ve heard about him too, huh?” Anto asked. “Did you know he was isolated from ice? And not just that, it seems like he had been trapped in that ice for about 25,000 years!” he exclaimed.

“What, seriously? Are you kidding?” both Staphy and Colo yelled together.

“Yeah, seriously! I kid you not, but I also heard that he looks so smooth and majestic and shiny!” he added. “And he has been contained in an isolated chamber.”

“Maybe he is so smooth since he’s been frozen for so long. If not, he would be hard like us,” Colo inferred.

“Did he live in the ice age with those woolly mammoths?” Staphy asked eagerly. “What about dinosaurs?” Staphy had heard about dinosaurs when they were displayed at the museum.

“Yes, he could have lived with the dinosaurs. That’s possible,” Anto wondered.

Staphy got excited and asked if they should go see him.

Hearing this Anto sighed. “I doubt that guys. As I told you earlier, he contained in an isolated chamber only I can enter,” he informed. “And not just that, the place is fully monitored with strict security.”

Hearing this both Staphy and Colo got very disappointed. But Colo was very determined to see the ice man. He wanted them to come up with a plan that could help them see the newcomer. As Colo developed a plan, Anto was explaining to them about Bdello – an ancient microorganism which is one of the toughest, tiniest organisms.

“He is alone in his chamber pacing back and forth. He has been alone for a very long time. So, loneliness is not new to him. His family may have died due to natural causes,” Anto explained. “If you definitely want to see him, I know a way,” he continued.

“What way?” both of them yelled together.

“The old man’s chamber is located near a water bump. I have a friend who would be willing to give us a ride. His name is Mr Rade, the water bear. He can swim through the water and drop us near a tap near the chamber. He can survive inhospitable conditions and can live in temperatures below 14°F in the permafrost. It would be better if we met him sooner rather than later,” Anto said.

“Alright, but how do we reach there?” asked Staphy.

“We ride on Mr Rade’s back,” Anto said as if it was the most obvious thing.

“Oh really!” Staphy and Colo started jumping overjoyed. 

Anto introduced tardigrade to Staphy and Colo. Looking at him both couldn’t help staring at him with their mouths wide open. The Tardigy was a bubbly water bear with a single eye and several legs. It was a beautiful sight to watch him smile. Coming back to their senses, they climbed over him and got themselves seated.

As they journeyed through the pipes, they saw algae and cyanan, the water microbes. When they met through intersections, the microbe friends were confused. Seeing them confused, Anto chuckled, “Tardigy has signalling abilities. Don’t worry about getting lost guys,” he clarified.

As they finally reached their destination, everyone sighed relieved. As they were about to part ways, Staphy and Colo thanked their new friend, the Tardigy, to which the Tardigy replied with a smile. As they got close to their target, Staphy couldn’t contain his excitement to see the old man. Seeing Staphy and Colo getting too excited, “Don’t make a sound. This is a surveillance-prone area,” Anto warned them.

They both looked at him sheepishly. As they entered the chamber, they could see the old man pacing. They stared at him in awe. He was so beautiful that they couldn’t take their eyes off him. All of them happily watched the old man marching inside the chamber. When both Staphy and Colo were distracted, Anto and Tardigy approached the old man. They explained the purpose of their visit and introduced Staphy and Colo to him. Staphy and Colo couldn’t contain their excitement and curiosity and asked him a lot of questions all the while being respectful. But as they spoke to him, they could notice the sadness in his eyes.

They asked, “how did you stay alive for so long?”

“I believed that I would come back alive,” he said. “I held my breath together to see my family again and I still believe I can. I was brought to life by these scientists. I believe they will revive my family too. I know i’ll get to see my wife and son,” he explained. He then asked them if they could help him find his family. A unanimous “Yes” was heard from everyone.

“But in order to find them, we need to know where to search them,” Anto asked.

“If we were to search at the place they found me, I think we should be able to find them,” the old man suggested. “But how do we get there?” he asked.

“That would be my duty,” replied Tardigy. All of them climbed over the water bear and sailed to the frozen point.

As the old man came out after so long, his eyes were sensitive to the sun. Staphy saw this and blocked the sunlight to help the old man’s eyes to adjust to the surrounding. At the 3rd day of their journey, all of them were tired and hungry, especially, Tardigy. They decided to rest under a tree. When the others rested, Anto volunteered to search for food and feed them. Ants are active workers by nature. After their meal, Anto said, “Guys I noticed a frozen hill nearby when I was food hunting.”

All of them rejoiced as they heard about the possible lead. As they climbed back on Tardigy’s back, they continued their journey. As they reached the place, they decided to go in different directions to make the search easier. Several hours later, they returned to their meeting spot without any luck. But the old man never lost hope. He still believed he could see his family again. Being alive and waiting has given him greater patience. He knew when to wait. They noticed Staphy’s absence and started to panic. As they started to look for him, they could hear Staphy yelling, “they’re here! they’re here!”

When they reached the spot, they could see the silhouette of the old man’s wife and son. Seeing them, the old man was overjoyed and could not stop the tears in his eyes. As they were back and thawed, the old man could barely control his excitement.

As the family reunited, everyone was happy for them. The old man introduced his family to his friends and thanked them for their help. He would be forever grateful to his friends.

Later they decided to go home to their own units to continue with their life with the satisfaction of making a family happy.